Joseph Parker's boss set to close Anthony Joshua fight deal

Joseph Parker's promoter David Higgins looks set to head to Britain for face-to-face talks to seal a world heavyweight boxing title unification fight with Anthony Joshua that now looks to be heading for a major stadium.

"We feel like there is a deal that can be in place with Parker and his team within the next week or so," Joshua's boss Eddie Hearn Hearn told Sky Sports on Thursday.

"There's a good chance [Parker's promoter] David Higgins will fly over in the next week to try and close the deal.

"Sometimes when you're this close you need to get face-to-face and eye-to-eye. Work on it, keep talking, no one goes home until you make the deal."

And it seems Team Parker's pleas for a bigger promotion are winning favour with plans to have the fight in London's premier indoor stadium now being replaced by what could be a massive outdoor crowd if a venue can be found.

"We looked at The O2 but if it's a unification against Parker, why have a 16,000 attendance when you could have 80,000? We have looked at the Principality Stadium and Twickenham. Major football stadiums don't want you using the pitch during the season," Hearn said.

Wales and England both wrap up their Six Nations rugby programmes with home matches at those venues on March 17.

The two camps have been in talks for several weeks now but appear to be getting very close. Hearn believes it is achievable and emphasised that WBO champion Parker is the preferred unification option over American Deontay Wilder, the WBC belt holder, right now. But he wants things worked out as quickly as possible to keep Joshua, the IBF and WBA champion, on course for a busy 2018.

"There are two perfect fights for AJ - Parker and Deontay Wilder. The Wilder fight is unrealistic because of what they want. The Parker fight is a lot closer," Hearn told Sky Sports.

"Parker is the frontrunner, he's the guy we want. But we can't be in a position where this goes on for three weeks then falls through.

"We've got two weeks until we need to start making offers to other fighters, apart from Parker.

"There is no deadline but we want to fight at the end of March or the first week of April.

"You are only one phone call away from a completed deal."

Photo by: PHOTOSPORT. Caption: Joseph Parker's promoter David Higgins has always believed a unification fight with Anthony Joshua in the UK could be massive and it looks like he may get his way.